Seek Higher Ground
The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis
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- USD 19.99
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- USD 19.99
Descripción editorial
Pairing in-depth journalism with historical perspectives, this book makes a compelling case for a natural solution to the growing problem of flooding.
With Seek Higher Ground, environmental writer and former land-use planner Tim Palmer explores the legacy of flooding in America, taking a fresh look at the emerging climatic, economic, and ecological realities of our rivers and communities. Global warming is forecast to sharply intensify flooding, and this book urges that we reduce future damage in the most effective, efficient, and equitable ways possible.
Through historical narrative, rigorous reporting, and decades of vivid personal experience, Palmer details how our society’s approach to flood control has been infamously inadequate and chronically counterproductive. He builds a powerful argument for both the protection of floodplain open space and for programs that help people voluntarily relocate their homes away from high-water hazards. Only by recognizing the indomitable forces of nature—and adapting to them—can we thrive in the challenging climate to come.
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Nature writer Palmer (Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement) delivers an urgent warning about the perils of Americans' penchant for living too close to rivers destined to unleash catastrophic flooding as Earth's atmosphere warms and its rains intensify. According to Palmer, dams and levees, America's default solutions, won't save cities and towns. Pointing to the benefits of flooding for a floodplain's overall ecological health, he instead advocates for ceding overbuilt floodplains back to nature, rather than maintaining the current status quo of rebuilding flood-damaged homes and communities in the very same places they were previously vulnerable, with federal agencies spending hundreds of billions of dollars to facilitate such doomed construction. Palmer levels familiar indictments against the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA, the insurance programs that encourage homeowners to return to compromised neighborhoods, and the lawmakers and other public officials unwilling to deliver bad news despite irrefutable evidence. What's most valuable here are the stories of lessons learned by individuals and communities who have taken steps to end the cycles of rebuilding in and near floodplains. It's an encouraging guidebook for community leaders and organizers looking for a sensible path forward.
